Committed to their Cause, Peace Corps Volunteers Return to Bolivia

Miguel posted this at Pronto* but I wanted to post it here as well because I think this is great news. The Peace Corps was evacuated last month when violence broke out in Santa Cruz and Pando, and the Bolivian government booted the US Ambassador.

This article and photo story in the Washington Post describes how many volunteers have chosen to return to Bolivia and continue their work without any support from the Peace Corps or US Government. I think this is incredibly commendable and if any of you volunteers are reading this, I say Bravo and Gracías!

I have always had mixed feelings about the Peace Corps and extranjero development projects, in general. I, myself, have seen short-term projects breeze in and out of communities without consideration of the long-term: on one hand, the history and culture of these places and their needs, but also future sustainability of these projects and the consequences of receiving outside aid. This aside, I never have doubted that people who join the Peace Corps or other development projects have good intentions. I’m sure there have been spies here and there, but I think the fact that these volunteers returned to their projects, without any support, provides the best evidence that the vast majority of PC volunteers are here because they want to help.

I totally agree with one of the volunteers, Sarah Nourse , who was quoted saying: “More than ever, Bolivia needs living examples of real Americans… They need someone to help, not for financial gains, but because the task exists and because it’s the right thing to do.”

I was personally bothered with the Fulbright student who broadcast to the world that he had been asked to spy. I agree that this request was egregious and required a response, but I felt he did not at all consider the consequences of his actions (when he chose to use the media to make his complaint) on the safety and hard work of other “gringos” who volunteer, research, and live in Bolivia. It takes a great deal of time and work to gain people’s trust, especially in the countryside, and in one fell swoop, he nearly destroyed all of that. Not that it is his fault that he was asked to spy, but I think he might have been able to use other measures to remedy the problem. He simply added fuel to the anti-gringo fire.

Having lived in Bolivia for several years, in the countryside and in the city, I find that people are very kind and interested in meeting me. Even if they disagree with actions of the US government and agree with the anti-American position of the Evo government, they are able to differentiate an individual from the reputation of their country. But this is not automatic, it’s because I make the effort to engage people, gain their trust, and spend a year or more living in their communities. I believe the fact that these former PC volunteers returned to their communities and their projects will go a long way in improving US-Bolivia relations, not only in their towns, but hopefully on a larger scale. In doing so, they showed that we are not puppets of our government, but people who love Bolivia and want to contribute to its growth and prosperity.

Thanks you guys and good luck with your projects!